Glimpses: A Gotham Futureverse Collection
by Triscribe
Summary: From an alien half-breed to runaway street rats to a speedster with a utility belt... These are short prologues for the future Bat Family members of my various Futureverse stories depicting some of their more meaningful moments. Oh, and you thought the sibling conflicts between Dick, Jason, Tim, Cass, Steph, and Damian were bad? Just wait until you meet these cousins...
1. Chapter 1: The Literal Flying Grayson

When Nightwing reached the Watchtower, he was surprised to find it so empty. From the way Starfire had sounded on the message she sent him, and the fact that it had been _her_ to call, something serious had to be in the air. The crimefighter once again ran through the words he'd heard over the transmission as he hurried through the metal hallways towards the communications room.

_I-I don't really want to bother you with this, Nightwing, but... Well, I c-can't really explain. Just, just come up here as soon as you can. I need to leave in another couple hours._

It had been a little over six years since the alien princess had left behind living on Earth, joining as a representative in a new Intergalactic Diplomats organization dedicated to solving disputes between star systems by acting as neutral intermediaries.

When he'd first heard it described, Dick though Kori' would be perfect for the job. She could talk sense into even the most stubborn Titans and Leaguers, and was tough enough to handle anything if talks broke down into violence. Even so, the knowledge that his longtime friend, teammate, and lover would be so far off in the reaches of space, only visiting Earth a couple of times a year at best... It was hard to come to terms with. They'd shared one last night together, before she left, and hadn't spoken much since.

So he had been more than a little worried by how nervous she sounded.

Finally, Nightwing found the room he needed, and burst inside to ask what was wrong, what had happened. Starfire whipped around from where she was standing on the other side of the communications panels, and just stared at him.

"Dick?" She asked uncertainly.

"Kori', I- um, well, I got your message." Nightwing returned, suddenly hesitant himself. "What's wrong? What do you need?"

"Well... It's a bit difficult to explain, but... I'm going on an assignment for the next few months, and I need... A babysitter."

That got a blink out of Nightwing. And another when a small voice piped up from beside Kori's feet.

"Mommy, you can do better than that!" Then, zipping up and over to him was a tiny girl with long dark hair and bright green eyes. "Hi, Daddy!"

-G-

"DAAAAAAAMIAN!"

"Shit." The nineteen year old muttered, backing slowly into library. His nightmare was hunting him again.

"Little trouble, Dami?"

"Shut it, Drake!" He snarled at the young man sitting on the sofa. Tim raised an eyebrow, keeping his face the picture of neutral indifference to hide the maniacal grin he felt inside.

"It wouldn't be so bad if you just didn't try to fight it, you know." Flipping a page in the book he was reading, Tim blatantly ignored the glare sent his way as Damian silently slipped away from the door. Every day about this time, he made a point of being where he could watch or listen to the teen's struggles and protests. It was almost as fun as observing the fights between him and Jason.

"Just have to make it to the window." Damian muttered. "Then I'll run for the woods, circle around to the gate, and hide out in the city until dark."

"Sounds brilliant." Tim piped up.

"Quiet!" His younger brother hissed. "Why doesn't she ever go for one of you guys, anyway?"

"Dunno. You might ask her, sometime."

Damian froze as tiny footsteps hurried past the library door, and relaxed once more when they faded away. He decided to skip the subtlety and just ran towards the picture window in the far wall. Tim sent him a smirk as the door began to open silently.

Just as Damian was pushing aside the glass panels to slip outside, a small form tackled him from behind. "Dami! Come play with me!"

"Ack!" He hollered, attempting to dislodge the short haired girl who'd begun scrambling around his body like a monkey. "Holly! If you don't get off me this instant, I'm telling Father who tagged along with my patrol last week."

She halted, craning around to look him in the eye. "You won't."

"And why wouldn't I?" Thinking he had won, Damian began to dislodge his little sister.

"Oh! Cause, if you do, I'll ask Alfred to skip you at dessert!" That got a groan from Damian and a laugh from Tim simultaneously. Everyone knew that little Holly Wayne had the grey-haired butler wrapped around her finger, even when it came to dishing out punishments to her older siblings and parents.

"Little monster." Damian growled, prompting a grin from the girl who readjusted her grip upon his shoulders. That was his usual way of admitting to being at her mercy for another day.

"Come on, Damian! We're gonna build a pillow fort by the front door!"

"Why?" He grumbled, stalking from the library with the cheerful five year old still perched upon him.

"Cause we gotta wait for Dick to come home! Now hurry up, slowpoke!"

"The things I do for you." Admittedly, though, once they two were out of sight and hearing from Tim, Damian proceeded to snatch his baby sister and began tickling her.

Squealing with laughter, Holly tried to wiggle out of his grip, but only succeeded in skewing her shirt around. Damian helped with that and started blowing raspberries onto her bare stomach.

"EE! Dami! Stop it!" Shrieking now, Holly managed to bop her brother on the nose.

"Ow!" Startled, Dami relaxed his grip long enough for the girl to slip away and take off for the front hall.

"Can't catch me!" She called back, and he gladly took up on the challenge. Just as Damian was about to catch her around the middle, the oak door opened, and he was forced to pull up short. Holly, however, simply shifted her course to come around to the doorway.

"Dick, you're home! Do you want to- Who are you?" She skidded to a stop as another girl came inside. This one was a little taller than her, and had green eyes instead of brown.

"I'm Mari'ander."

"Oh. My name's Holly. Do you want to come play with me?"

"Sure!" And just like that, the two started running back across the floor towards the rest of the mansion. Damian blinked as, halfway, the newcomer lifted off into the air and started _flying._ He turned to face a weary looking Dick coming in the door, a small purple bag the same color as the girl's clothes slung over his shoulder.

"What the hell, Grayson?" Damian asked, mystified.

"I'll... Explain later. To everyone. Promise." The older man was still staring after the two kids. "Hey, does Jason still have that stash of beer in his room?"

"Yes... I mean, not that I would know, but Pennyworth keeps admonishing him about it."

"Good. I think I need a drink."

-G-

"... And she'll be here for the next four months, until Kori' gets back to Earth." Dick finished, standing before the assembled Bat Family. Damian, Cass and Tim had studiously blank faces, Stephanie and Jason were both grinning at him, Selina and Bruce were frowning, and Alfred had on the blank expression that the other three must have studied from.

"Where is the young Miss now, may I ask?" The stoic butler asked.

"Upstairs in Holly's room; I think she's getting the 101 Guide to Disney Princesses, or something like that."

Jason snickered. "Okay, funny as this is, I've a couple of serious questions here. One," He held up an index finger. "Are you seriously going to just had this kid back over to Starfire without a fight?"

"It's not that simple, Jason." Growled Dick.

"Sure it is. She's just as much your flesh and blood as her mom. Plus, you've got the stable home and family, whereas the whole point Star brought her by was because she's going into a non-kid-friendly environment for an extended period of time."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow at him. "You sound adamant about this, Jason." He just frowned at her before continuing.

"Look, all I'm saying is that the kid deserves to grow up around her dad. And as weird a family as we are, if Holly's turning out okay, Mari' would too - better than bouncing around from one planet to another, anyway."

"And just why are you being so trusting towards this child after only an hour?" Damian asked, wrinkling up his nose.

"For crying out loud, Dami, do you even remember how fast you got accepted in here?" Tim asked, glaring at him. "Already this girl is way more polite than you, and hasn't tried to kill anyone yet. I won't be surprised if she's made herself right at home before the week is out, and has us doing her bidding just as much as Holly."

"If nothing else," Selina interrupted before the two youngest could start arguing full out. "We see what Mari'ander wants to do after the four months are up."

Sighing, Dick nodded in agreement. "Fine. That's fine."

"Hold up!" Stephanie suddenly said. "What was your other question, Jay?"

The man smirked and turned to Bruce and Selina. "How does it feel to be grandparents?"

"Jason!"

-G-

The weeks fell away quickly as Mari' Grayson did, indeed, make herself at home in Wayne Manor. By day, she played and learned about Earth culture alongside her technical-aunt, but closer to foster-sister Holly. The two girls began spending more time in each other's company than anyone else in the family, with the possible exception of Alfred, when the three would make things in the kitchen together. Mari' didn't have all of her mother's powers yet, but she could still retrieve ingredients and utensils from anywhere in the kitchen faster than the others, and catch the things that Holly dropped before they made a mess.

By night, the girls stayed up as late as they could, sneaking down to the Batcave to listen to all the missions and patrols their family members were on, or else slipping out of the mansion altogether to follow Damian, as Renegade, whenever he just did routine rounds of the city. Being able to take off from the roof or a bedroom window worked a lot better when sneaking out, allowing the two to go out much more often than when it had just been Holly by herself. Their respective fathers didn't approve of this, and neither did most of the other Bats, but Jason would help cover for the girls sometimes. On one occasion, when Renegade had to meet with Batman and Nightwing in the Narrows, he dropped the two of them off at Jay's apartment, where they fell asleep and Cass discovered them the next morning, side by side, covered with Red Hood's leather jacket.

When she first met Oracle, Mari' thought the woman kept looking at her with a strange expression; part joy, part annoyance, and part something she couldn't put her finger on. Although, being slipped a little bat-communicator and whispered the instruction to call her Aunt Babs had the girl dismiss any negative thoughts about her.

Then there were all of the friends of both her father and mother who insisted on meeting the six year old: members from everywhere in the superhero community, from the Justice League, the Outsiders and Titans to solo-heroes from various cities and even other nations. Mari' had a hard time remembering all the names, at least until Alfred and Holly made her a reminder scrapbook - a late birthday present, they called it.

That set off everyone in their family to start getting her gifts, to make up for the six celebrations they missed in the past. By the end of that particular week, Mari's bedroom was fit to burst with all the sudden presents. Most of them she had to learn to use (like the bicycle and skates, along with numerous board games and other toys), but there was one favorite Mari' was determined to keep forever.

It was an old photograph of the group of Teen Titans who turned the team into a gathering like the League: there was Cyborg, and Raven, Beast Boy when he was going by Changeling, Wally West as Kid Flash, Donna Troy as Wonder Girl, and best of all, her parents. Dick Grayson and Kori'ander, Nightwing and Starfire, young and happy and looking like they could, and would, take on any challenge in the universe.

Mari' wondered what had changed between them, and if it had anything to do with her.

-G-

"Can't catch me, Holly!" She called down with a grin.

"No fair, Mari'! Come down from there!" Her foster-sister did a pretty impressive impersonation of the Batglare (at least for a five year old). The sight of it just made Mari' grin from her perch at the top of the old oak tree.

"Why don't you snitch a grappling line from the Cave, then?" Eyes widening, Holly thought about the idea for all of two seconds - then she was off and running back towards the Manor. Mari' laughed, planning to wait for her companion to vanish inside, then move to a different hiding place and make her start the search all over again.

Just as she was lifting off from the branches, though, a shadow fell over the girl. She tensed and turned, prepared to fight if need be. Her home was outside of Gotham, after all, and part of the requirement for her and Holly to tag along with Damian's patrols was learning how to defend themselves.

In this case, at least, it turned out to be completely unnecessary.

"Mommy!" Kori'ander opened her arms wide, and the child happily flew into them. "You're back early!"

"Well, negotiations went better than expected." Laughing, Mari's mother held her at arms length. "X'hal, is it my imagination, or have you grown?"

"Almost a whole inch!" The girl grinned at her. "Alfred measured me and Holly on the same door as Daddy, and Grandfather. Then we baked cookies to celebrate, and Daddy said they were the best he'd ever had!" Mari' continued to ramble on about all the things she'd done, and all the gifts she'd gotten and people she'd met. Kori'ander listened patiently, though throughout the explanations and cheerful descriptions the woman found herself growing a bit tearful.

Suddenly, Mari's words halted as she studied her mother's face. A moment later, the girl started speaking again, but in the Tamaranean tongue she'd first learned, before English. "Mommy, why did you leave Earth? Was it because of me?"

"What?" Shocked, Kori'ander struggled for a moment before also shifting to her native language. "X'hal, no, little one. I didn't even realize I was going to have you until after I'd left."

"Then why? It's so nice here."

"It's... Difficult to explain, my little one. I'd been asked by the Justice League to assist them with more and more space missions, and it got to the point I was spending more time off-world than on. Then I was approached about taking my job, and well, it seemed like a positive step for me." Carefully, she lifted a hand to cup Mari's chin. "Little one, I love Earth, and I always will. It opened my eyes to so many things... But it is not home anymore."

Mari' mumbled something under her breath.

"What was that?" The girl lifted her gaze to meet her mother's.

"It feels like home to me." She said softly, and Kori'ander's heart fell. The alien woman knew it had been a risk to leave her daughter here, but at the time, she'd had no choice. The planet she had been asked to journey to was not a place for families, and Mari' had been asking about her father anyway - Earth had been closer than Tamaran.

Now, her fear had been realized, that Mari' would fall for the planet as Kori'ander herself once had.

Sighing, she dropped her hands from the startled girl, who looked at her questioningly.

"If you want to stay... I understand." Mari's gasped at her mother's simple declaration, then grabbed her in a massive hug.

"Thank you!" She whispered.

"I love you so much, Mari'ander."

"I love you too, Mommy. You will visit?"

"As often as I can, little one. Now, why don't you go and tell your father I'm here - I want the two of us to spend some time flying before I leave again." Cheering, Mari' zipped down and towards the door of Wayne Manor: the place that was now, officially, her home.


	2. Chapter 2: You Went and Did What Now?

As Red Hood slipped down the fire escape of the building, he could hear the pair of drug dealers who ran this operation screaming at one another on the bottom floor. They were a husband and wife pair who seemed to have gotten together for the sole reason of pooling their resources to buy this ramshackle place - certainly, from what he'd heard, there wasn't much of anything else involved in their relationship.

When he reached the third floor window, where the greenhouse was situated, Hood let himself in without a hitch. Pulling the incendiaries from his jacket pockets, the young man set to moving silently through the room, delivering his little bundles around the leafy rows, eager to leave as quickly as possible. Admittedly, after seeing firsthand the monsters made by Poison Ivy, no plant should have the right to make him shiver, but all this green was giving him the creeps.

The brief, hastily cut-off squeak from the far end of the room did not help matters.

Tensing and reaching towards his utility belt, Hood carefully turned and stepped forward, brushing aside the grasping leaves.

Two pairs of wide brown eyes stared up at him.

"Ah, crap," Red Hood breathed. "Look, you kids shouldn't be here, y'know."

The girl, who was a little bit bigger than the boy but still smaller than Mari' and Holly back home, stood up to glare at him. "This is our house! You're the one who's not supposed to be here!" And really, he couldn't argue with that.

"Those are your parents downstairs, then?" He asked, kneeling to get a better look at them. Even if this bunghole really was their home, the two looked like they'd come straight out of a homeless shelter. Ragged clothes, tangled black hair and enough grime on their faces and arms that it would probably take several baths just to get past the top layer.

The girl made a face at his words. "Not anymore, they're not. I keep Jer away from 'em now." Underneath his helmet, Jason's eyes narrowed.

"Are you da Red Hood?" The little boy said, so quietly to took the man a few seconds to understand what had been said.

"Yeah, I am."

"Are you gonna blow us up?" Well, that got a blink out of him.

"No... Um, this building, yeah, but not you guys, if you leave now..."

Sudden hope lit up the girl's eyes, and she pointed at the floor, and presumably the adults who they could all hear still yelling. "Them too?"

And with those two words, Jason's heart seemed to melt. His bombs, straight from the Batcave, were meant to smolder and set fire to the plants, but with plenty of time for the dealers below them to smell the smoke and get out.

"Sorry, kids. I don't kill anymore. Part of wearing this, I'm afraid." He tapped the red Bat symbol that adorned his kevlar-lined shirt. "But, how about I promise to get you out of here, and to a place where you won't have to worry about them ever again?" The two kids simultaneously bit their lips and looked to each other. Then the girl seemed to steal her nerve and, with her grip on the smaller one tightening, nodded to him.

Three blocks away, when Jason hit the detonator, not one of the trio looked back.

-G-

When Nightwing slipped into his little brother's apartment just as the sun was rising, he didn't expect to see Jason snoring on the couch. Sure, there were plenty of times that he'd come home as Red Hood and crashed, but it was always on the bed in the back room, which had no windows. And right now, even if he had his domino mask on, Jason was in a t-shirt and sweat pants, sprawled underneath one of his spare blankets.

Frowning in puzzlement, Nightwing stepped closer and gently nudged the younger man.

"Hmm- whuzzat?" It only took a few seconds for Jason to wake up, though upon registering the figure above him he froze. "The hell are you doing here?"

"Couldn't get back to the Cave before dawn. I was gonna change into the spare set of clothes here, and slip out before you woke up. That aside, why are you sleeping on the couch."

"Long sto- wait, wait, hold up! What spare clothes?" Jason was sitting up now and glaring at him, which only made Nightwing chuckle.

"The ones I stuck in your hall closet after we both left from here to fight Scarecrow two months ago - I decided to just leave them here, in case of something like this. Now, answer my question."

Jason mumbled some choice words about his big brother's pushiness before responding. "I took down that greenhouse on Lenowe Street last night."

"... That place owned by the crazy couple who have a friend on the force?"

"That's the one. Figured since those two always manage to slip out of booking, I'd just torch their place." He paused to let Nightwing have the customary sigh. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But, uh, I guess none of us really scouted the place before, 'cause while I was there-"

They both stiffened at the high-pitched scream from the bedroom. In the time it took Nightwing to blink and open his mouth to ask what that was, Jason was already over the back of the couch en route to the closed door.

He crashed through the flimsy wood, not bothering to slow down to turn the handle. On his double bed, the little boy, Jeremy, was sitting up and still breathing heavily, covered in sweat. His big sister, whose name was Jasmine, had been startled awake as well and was trying to calm him down. Both kids, jerked their heads up at Jason's dramatic entrance to stare at him.

"What happened? Are you two okay?" Still instinctively scanning for intruders, Jason gradually calmed when he realized the two were alone and still amidst the rumpled covers.

"... Jer had a bad dream." Jas said simply, watching him with wide eyes. Resisting the urge to just groan and turn around, Jason slowly moved forward, coming to kneel at the edge of the bed, which put him about eye level with the pair.

"Nightmare, huh?" He said softly. "Wanna tell me what about?"

Jas started to open her mouth to answer for him, but stalled when she noticed a perplexed Nightwing standing in the doorway. Meanwhile, Jer hunched down on himself.

"Mommy 'n Daddy." The little boy said, so quietly Jason had to strain to hear him, even from less than two feet away. "But, th-they don't like it when I call them that."

If anything had been in Jason's hands while the kid said that, it would have been snapped clean in two. "You don't have to worry about calling them ever again, Jeremy. I promise."

Lifting his gaze, Jer looked into Jason's eyes as the man peeled away his mask, revealing his own green eyes. "I promise." Jason repeated. Jasmine also turned her face to watch him again, and she was a second behind her little brother when he lunged to hug Jason around the neck. Cradling both kids in his arms, the man cautiously stood and moved himself onto the bed, leaning back against the headboard. Neither of the children moved, content to remain clinging to him, even as they slowly slipped back into a restful sleep.

Still in the doorway, Nightwing didn't move either - at least not until Jason's snores started rumbling through the apartment again. Then he moved to the hall closet, pulling out the dark shirt and jeans he'd left there in an emergency. Changing, Dick resolved to help Jason keep his word, even if he needed to do some information digging first.

-G-

"Whoa!" Jasmine and Jeremy yelled in unison, staring up at Wayne Manor. "You grew up _here?!"_

"Well, for part of my life." He answered smoothly, not really feeling like elaborating.

"Why don't you live here anymore?"

"Haven't really had a reason for coming back quite that far. Besides, it's good for a guy to have his own place."

"I dunno, this seems like a pretty cool house." Jas said with a serious look that Jason couldn't help but chuckle at.

"Yeah, it is, which is why I'm gonna see about you two living here."

"Really?!" Grinning, Jason reached forward to knock.

"Really really." _I hope._

Before his hand could even leave the wood, the door was opened smoothly by Alfred. "Good day, Master Jason. And to you as well, young Mistress Jasmine, Master Jeremy." All three of the scruffily-dressed individuals on the front steps just stared at him. Then the silence was broken by Jason groaning.

"Aw, crap, that jerk went told you all, didn't he? God-damned golden boy-"

"I'd ask you to watch your language around impressionable children, Master Jason, but I highly doubt it would do any good."

"That's okay, mister, we've heard worse!" To the man's credit, Alfred didn't bat an eye as Jasmine piped up. A minute later, he'd herded the trio into the front hall, closed the door, and set about taking their coats. Jas and Jer were glad to get out of the grown-up sized spares Jason had scrounged for them, then resumed staring about their surroundings in awe.

"Is that Jay?" The two street kids' eyes widened even more when a pair of girls appeared around the corner. "It is! Hi Jason!"

Mari' and Holly, now ages nine and eight, skidded to a stop before the gathering. As inquisitive as ever, they immediately set about acquiring the new children's names, favorite foods, colors and story genres. Holly was ecstatic to meet another tomboy, while Mari' seemed happy to know someone else who liked purple best out of the rainbow, even if he was half her age.

Before Jason knew it, his two young charges had been pulled away for a game of tag, which would probably end up becoming a tour of the mansion.

"If you will, young sir, the others are awaiting us within the library."

"Oh. Joy."

And sure enough, there they all were. Bruce and Selina, both with greying hair, stood towards the back with bemused expressions. Dick was leaning back on the sofa, Tim beside him, massive grins on their faces. Waiting off to one side was Damian, his face the picture of indifference. Cass was sipping at a cup of tea, curled up in one of the armchairs, with Stephanie perched on the back of the seat next to it.

Even Barbara was here, wheelchair at the end of the sofa, laptop resting on her lap.

"I'm gonna get you for this, Grayson."

Aaaand that set off the laughter.

"Scratch, that, I'm gonna _kill_ you for this."

He started to move towards his giggling brothers with intent to do bodily harm, but glares from both Selina and Bruce were enough to slow Jason down. And then Barbara spoke up.

"Much as I hate to say it, Jason, you technically committed a double kidnapping last night."

"Well, what in the hell else could I have done? You people weren't there - you didn't see the look in those kids' eyes when they thought I was going to kill their parents. They were _hoping_ for that!" As one, nearly every person in the room winced or cringed. The only ones who didn't were Cass, who still paused in lifting her teas mug, Damian, who's lips turned down into a deep scowl, and Alfred, stiff-faced as ever. Even so, Jason was glad to see a bit of fire flaring up in the old man's eyes.

Barbara sighed, and opened her laptop. Turning it to face him, Jason could see the image of a set of certificates over several other windows. Then, looking closer, his jaw dropped.

_Jasmine Alicia Zernicke-Todd. Jeremy Jonathan Zernicke-Todd._

"The hell is this...?" He trailed off as Barbara displayed the other documents. A handful of medical records, an enrollment file for Jas at the same grade school campus that Mari' and Holly attended, even a custody order for Jason to keep the two kids, claiming them as his own.

_Holy shit. Guess I don't need to ask Bruce to take 'em in, then._

-G-

"I still don't get why you guys did all that for them. For us." Jason amended his statement, sitting with Dick and Bruce on the back patio, watching the four children race around the lawn.

"Jason, I've rarely seen you move as fast as you were charging into that bedroom when you thought those two were in trouble." Blunt was not something Dick did often, but Jason had to admit, it was sure dramatic when he did. "And as you made so clear, staying with criminal parents who likely mistreated, if not outright abused them, would not be healthy for those kids."

"Still... Forging documents to say their mine, even before I get here with the runts? For crying out loud, you barely had a three hour lead on me." Jason couldn't help but complain about that last bit.

"You wanted to get them into a better home. From what Dick told us, those two bonded to you right away." Bruce put in.

"Uh-huh. So you guys thought they ought to stay with me? That's cruel, even for you, Bruce."

"Well, there was also the matter of you revealing your identity to them... Ow!"

Bruce didn't move as his two oldest descended into grappling across the patio. When the four children looked over, though, he did lower one eyelid in a conspiratorial wink. Holly grinned and led the charge to tackle her legal-brothers.

Taken by surprise, the two men didn't stand a chance before the youthful onslaught.


	3. Chapter 3: A New Batch of Strays

"Robin, focus." Holly snapped her attention back to the warehouse below them.

"Sorry, Dad." Batman grunted in reply, a noise that the twelve year old interpreted as _It's fine, just don't let your attention wander again._ She'd gotten very good at understanding her father's unspoken words in the past few months, ever since stepping into the role shared by all her big legal-brothers and Aunt Steph. It had taken almost a year's worth of wheedling on her parents for it to happen, with extra support from Mari', Jas, Jer, the twins, and even Dick. Earlier that year, Nightwing had been officially joined in his patrols by Nightstar, and Holly was eager to prove that a lifetime of training could be just as good as natural powers.

"Looks like the last of the bosses is here." She muttered, noting the nondescript car pulling around to the rear entrance. Batman grunted again, this time meaning a simple affirmative. As a total of three men and two women exited the car and hurried inside, the Dark Knight raised a comm. link to his face.

"In thirty seconds." He said simply, and with that, the Bird and Bat leaped from the construction crane.

Each one of her older siblings had their favorite parts of the job, but Holly's was simply the thrill of the jump. Not the flying, not even the falling, really, just the sudden adrenaline as her feet pushed off from a solid perch for the open void. It only lasted a split second, though. Then the grappling hook was deployed, gravity was pulled against, and she was once again on firm footing.

Or in this case, semi-firm. At the combined drop of her and her father's weight, the glass skylight shattered, despite the double layers. Thugs all around the room opened fire as the various bosses, who were meeting to discuss terms on routes of human trafficking, scattered in terror.

Ducking bullets, Holly made her flashy way around the perimeter of the room, launching a few bolos at fleeing criminals to trip them up. Mainly, though, the girl's task was to act as a distraction alongside her father to the goon squads, as the rest of her family snuck in from the shadows. Nightwing, Nightstar, Black Bat, Red Hood, Batwoman and Renegade attacked in silence, dragging men into the darkness, securing them and removing their weapons.

And by the time the remaining criminals realized what was happening, the police task force had surrounded the building, courtesy of Oracle and Redbird's coordination. Barely half an hour since their initial attack, the entire affair was settled, and Holly waited with Mari' at the base of same construction crane as before.

"_That,_" The alien half-breed grinned. "Was awesome."

"You can say that again, girl!" The pair high-fived, attracting a few glances and smiles from nearby police officers. Then Renegade appeared beside them, and the lawmen quickly turned their gazes away.

"Oh, come on bro, you just have to scare the good officers, don't you?" Holly complained. Damian frowned at her, only half aware of the intimidation factor of his black and grey suit. It didn't help that the now twenty-six year old was easily the most muscular member of their family, with Jason coming in a close second - though his uniform helped disguise that fact, whereas Dami's enhanced it. _Batman _was less scary, for crying out loud.

"Selina's expecting you two back at the Cave soon, and Father wants to see how fast you can get their without a vehicle, or powers." He said bluntly, before slipping back into the shadows. "Better get going."

"Jerk." Holly couldn't help but mutter. She'd liked her only blood-sibling better when he was still nice to her, at least in private company. Mari' just shook her head while pulling out a grappling line.

"Come on, Robin, I'll race you back."

"Hmph. Fine. But you better not cheat!"

Mari's only response was a laugh as she swung away, Holly following close behind. The pair made good time across the cityscape, revelling in the motion and the wind speed. It was exhilarating, and both girls loved it, loved losing themselves in it. And lose themselves they did, neither worrying about anything other than where to aim and how to move.

At least, until Holly spotted something being flung from a moving truck into an alley.

The girl allowed her taut line to pull her back around in a one-eighty, landing on one of the buildings beside the alley. The truck was too far gone to bother chasing, so she just focused on getting down to ground level, where a thick cardboard box had been sealed shut with several layers of duct tape around the flaps.

Or, maybe not completely sealed - there were small holes poked into two of the sides, and through them Holly could hear faint whimpers and the scrapes of movement. It didn't take her more than a moment to pull out a birdarang and rip the lid of the box off.

Six pairs of blue eyes gazed back up at her. "Oh, poor kitties... And, um, puppy?" The girl did a double take, assuring herself that yes, there was a brown and black puppy amidst the five kittens in the box. They were all filthy and beyond skinny; with the strays she'd seen over the years, Holly knew that these guys were underweight and probably small for their age. She tentatively lowered a hand into the box, giggling a little as first one of the baby cats, and then the puppy cautiously sniffed her. "It's okay, little guys, I'm a superhero."

"Robin, what- Oh!" Mari' touched down beside her, grappling line forgotten. "Oh, those poor babies!"

Holly turned to look up at her foster-sister. "We can't leave them here." Mari's only hesitated for a moment, before her expression turned into determination.

"I have an idea."

-G-

"Where have you two been?" Batman growled as the girls entered the Cave.

"Sorry, Grandfather, we stopped to halt a mugging." Mari' explained, being the slightly better liar. Both of them had been trained by best, though, and only the older's knack for the innocent look put her ahead of Holly. Batman merely grunted, turning back to the computer screen he, Nightwing and Renegade were gathered around.

Selina stepped over to them, graceful despite her new limp. Holly couldn't help the swell of pride at the visual confirmation of her mom's continued strength, despite warehouse collapse several months prior which had forced Catwoman's retirement.

"You can stop with that expression, Mari' dear," Selina said quietly with a small smirk. "I can always tell when you two are lying."

The girls exchanged a glance, before smiling at the woman and beckoning for her to give them a moment. Swiftly changing into their regular clothes, they then led Selina upstairs and through the mansion to Jasmine's bedroom.

Holly knocked with one of their special codes: _We're here, there's a grown-up but it's okay._ Within seconds of the last thud, the door opened to reveal Jeremy's cautious face. He grinned upon seeing Selina, though.

"Come on in! We're still feeding them." The eight year old grinned, allowing them to slip past. Inside the room, the tiny twins Jack and Anne Drake, age six, were giggling as the pair of brown tabby kittens crawled up into their respective laps. Jas had two of the others gathered in her arms, though she was frowning at the bed.

"Holly, the puppy and last kitten went under there... Oh, hi Grandma!"

It took a few moments for Selina to find her voice again. "This is why you two were late?"

"Yep! We had to fly onto the grounds, and pass these guys in through the window to Jas, so she and Jer could wash 'em while the twins went and got some of their old baby milk formula." Holly paused. "How'd they take the baths?"

Jas rolled her eyes. "Why do you think the other two are hiding under the bed?" She absently handed the black kitten with a white splotch on its nose back to Jer, while the black one with white paws clung resolutely to her shirt.

"Here." Mari' stepped forward and gently lifted one edge of the bed, allowing Holly enough room to scooch underneath and locate the fuzzballs.

"Hey now, little guys, remember me?" She murmured softly, reaching out her hand. "You two are the ones who sniffed me before, after all." The grey kitten, fur still damp, glared at her balefully, but the puppy scuttled towards her boy warmth, and the cat reluctantly followed.

When the girl slid back out, Mari' set down the bed and scooped up the kitten. Whispering to it soothingly, she conjured a tiny starbolt, using it to distract the critter as she slowly wrapped it in a dry towel. Holly just sat back on her knees, hugging the puppy to her chest and looking him over. Definitely male, the little guy had a black mark on his otherwise brown forehead, sort of in the shape of a playing card ace.

She glanced up at Selina's slow approach.

"How is it," The woman said slowly. "Out of everyone in this room, it's _my _daughter who ends up with the dog in her arms?" Holly just grinned at the former Catwoman.

"Can we keep them, Grandma?" Jack asked, turning to look up at her as well.

"Can we, can we please?" Anne begged to, her kitten now nestled under her chin and batting at the little girl's brown hair. "They're so cute!"

Selina sighed, muttering something about _glad someone has their priorities straight._ "I suppose so. You all have to be the one to ask Alfred, though."

The younger kids all cheered while Jas glanced questioningly at the woman. "I thought we'd have to ask Grandfather."

"Jasmine," Selina tutted. "You should know better than that. Girls, can the two of you tell me our top three rules in this family?"

Mari' started. "Number three, don't ever leave home without a utility belt."

"Number two, no killing." Holly continued.

They finished together, with matching grins. "Number one, never, ever back-talk Alfred."

"That's right." Selina smirked at them all. "If Alfie says the little ones can stay, not even Bruce will dare try to talk him out of it."

"You really think so?" Jer asked softly. The woman reached out to smooth down his wild black hair.

"Of course. Your parents were all strays that your esteemed Head Bat brought home at one point or another; and Alfred will most certainly bring that up if he tries to argue out of it." They all chuckled or grinned at that, before returning to the important task of cooing over the adorable baby critters.

_A/N: A bit short for my tastes, but anything I tried to add to this just seemed unnecessary. Anywho, I'm trying to keep all the Glimpses stories in more or less chronological order, and some characters (like the Drake twins here) will be explained in flashbacks, or the swapping of family stories. It'll all be pretty lighthearted for a while, but this being Gotham, you know something tragic will happen sooner or later..._

_And on that cheerful note, thanks for reading!_

_-Triscribe_


	4. Chapter 4: Twins Who Are Not Twins

"Hey Anne, Jack! Wait up!" The two nine year olds paused in their hasty exit of the ballroom, allowing the slightly younger Sara Wilkes to catch up with them. For once, she wasn't hiding behind a curtain of ginger hair, though that fact coupled with the party dress the girl had been forced to wear were both making her decidedly more uncomfortable than usual.

"Hi, Sara." Anne grinned. "Wanna come hide with us in the playroom? Richard's getting snacks."

"Yes!" The trio swiftly slipped away from the adult chatter and mingling, opting for a more fun time hidden away from annoying bigwigs. It was a charity fundraiser, the kind their extended Wayne family had been throwing for years, with this particular one aimed at the orphanages of Gotham. And since her dad Colin Wilkes was setting up an extended program for opening extracurricular activities to children without families, Sara had been forced to come with him.

"Danny got to stay home, huh?" Jack asked, wondering about Sara's five year old brother.

"Yeah, Mom got a baby-sitter for him, lucky little twerp. What about the rest of your cousins?"

"Mari' and Holly are stuck out there for another couple hours; Jas, Jer and Marigold snuck down to the Cave a little while ago with Uncle Jason and Aunt Cass, Richard's gonna join us after he raids the kitchen, Walt's spending the night with his Granny, and I think Aunt Irey took little Alf to Central City for a couple days." The three of them pushed opened a door at the far end of the hall, entering a room completely dedicated to kids having fun. There was a television with several game systems neatly placed beneath it, the shelves on either side holding a variety of movies and games. Storage bins sat beneath the wide picture window, while low tables were placed against the other two walls. Throughout the rest of the carpeted room were scattered a variety of pillows and stuffed animals (the only toys allowed to remain out when not in use).

"I always get so jealous when coming in here." Sara said in awe. The other two just grinned at her before moving towards their respective destinations. Anne proceeded to grab several of the thick, fuzzy pillows and drag them into a semicircle in front of the TV, while her brother took several DVDs down from the shelves.

Sara started to ask what she could do to help when a gust of wind blew her hair around. Clawing the strands back from her face, the girl turned to see Richard Wayne balancing a tray covered in baby carrots, sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, pudding cups and (chocolate chip cookies which were still steaming slightly). The younger boy's eyes widened when he realized she was there, and he tried mumbling something around his mouthful of food.

"You don't mind if Sara joins us, right Rich?" Anne grinned at him. Glaring, Richard hurriedly choked down his food to answer her.

"No, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have liked some warning!" The seven year old snarled. His older cousins just grinned and flopped down onto their pillows. Sara took a carrot off of the tray to nibble and joined them, Richard still glaring from the doorway.

"Wall-e, How to Train Your Dragon, or Big Hero Six?" Jack asked.

"Don't know why you like those old cartoons so much," Anne grumbled. "Can't we watch something more modern?"

"No, 'cause you can't beat the classics, idiot."

"Yes you can, twerp!"

Sara's eyes went back and forth between the arguing siblings as Richard sat down next to her with a sigh. "Huh. This is the first time I've seen those two argue." She whispered to him. "Do twins fight even worse than regular siblings?"

He started to say something, then paused and gave her an odd look. "Yeah, but, they aren't twins."

In took a few seconds for that to sink in while Sara blinked. "_What?"_

That, apparently, was enough to get the argument halted in its tracks. Richard repeated his statement for the siblings to hear.

"Oh, yeah, we're actually not blood-siblings at all." Jack told her.

"I was adopted on the day we were born." Anne smirked.

When Sara couldn't seem to come up with any words, Richard rolled his eyes and swallowed another bite of cookie. "Well, you guys are gonna have to tell the story now."

-G-

The sleek green car roared into the hospital's parking lot so fast it nearly clipped startled staff just coming in to work. Several people's eyes widened as the vehicle parked, and Timothy Drake-Wayne threw himself out of the driver's seat. The man ran around to the passenger's side, opening it just in time for his heavily pregnant wife to pull herself out.

"Are you sure you wanted to come here because it's not too late for me to get us to the ER entrance and I'd really rather not take any risks-"

"Tim." Tamara smirked at him. "Am I supposed to believe that the man willing to stare down a veritable army of assassins, when he was a teen no less, is panicking over his son being born?"

"Just a bit." He closed the car door and started guiding her in the direction of the hospital entrance. "I was in uniform then, too."

"Right now you're not a superhero, you're my husband who is going to do a phenomenal job of convincing people he's never heard so much screaming or seen so much blood before."

"Yes, dear."

Several hours later found the both of them in the maternity ward, Tamara approaching the later stages of her contractions. Tim stood by her bedside, one hand wielding the sponge he'd periodically run across her forehead, the other being held in Tamara's. Very. Firmly.

In another part of the hospital, the on duty nurse of the Emergency room admittance glanced up as a woman wearing far too little for the chilly spring day stumbled in. While her grey t-shirt would have fit loosely on her thin frame, it was rather stretched over an abdomen swollen with child.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" She blinked several times, as though surprised to find someone addressing her. "Ma'am?" The nurse hesitantly motioned for assistance, alarmed as the woman dropped to her knees. "Ma'am!"

"Baby... Baby's coming... Gotta be ready for the baby..." This was all the woman muttered, even as the hospital staff gave her a quick check, discovering a few things: that she was deep in labor, completely incoherent, and had a bullet wound in her left arm. Within minutes, they were hurrying her first to the maternity ward.

And across the city, a man in a dingy apartment building was putting the finishing touches on his arsenal, muttering to himself all the while. "Thought she'd run... Not gonna leave me... Gotta be ready for the baby..."

_A/N: So, this week we've got a two-parter, mainly because I'm too tired to finish typing this up right now. Part two will be out in a day or so, don't worry, and then we'll get the rest of this mystery..._

_In the meantime, much thanks to OverObsessedFangirl8804 for helping! We get an extra couple characters in this story thanks to her, so grin in appreciation, people!_

_And now I have a horrendous Art History assignment to go research - be glad you are not in my shoes. Later, folks._

_-Triscribe_


	5. Ch 4: Twins Who Are Not Twins Part 2

"He's perfect," Tim breathed, one arm wrapped around Tamara's shoulders and the other ghosting over the newborn's exposed skin. His wife had no response other than a tired smile. Before much longer, Tim expected to be swarmed by his relatives seeking to meet the newest member of the family, and he was determined to enjoy the peace while it lasted.

A few minutes later, the calm was indeed broken - but not by a Bat-clan intrusion.

Their room in the maternity ward began to shake, and from the hallway people began screaming. Instinct took over, causing the incognito superhero to throw the blankets off of his wife and pull both her and their infant to the floor. Tim covered his family with his own body, and took the brunt of the shockwave as several explosions ripped through the building in quick succession.

"What's happening?" Tamara gasped, clutching the now wailing newborn to her chest.

"Don't know, but we need to get out of here." Rising to his feet and ignoring the sharp pains from his back, Tim helped Tam stand as well. Then the two of them hurried to the door, wrenching it open and joining the panicked people hurrying as fast as they could for the emergency exit.

Despite his need to get Tam and their son out, Tim still found himself ducking back to lift those who stumbled or tripped in the continued explosions. By the time he reached the stairwell, his little family was already halfway down, surrounded by the hurrying crowd. Tim would have leapt down to rejoin them if one lone scream didn't echo down the now-deserted hallway.

Cursing, the man doubled back, checking every room as he went. Almost all the way back to where he'd just left, Tim jerked to a halt beside an open doorway and the gut-wrenching sight beyond it.

A pale and trembling woman lay on the ground, a beam ripped free of the ceiling crushing her torso. Even as Tim watched in horror, the pool of blood around the woman grew larger, and the spark of life faded from her eyes.

Very much alive, though, was the wailing infant in pink blankets still cradled in the woman's arms.

Without a second thought, Tim dashed forward, scooped up the baby as gently as he could, then high-tailed it out of the shakin building.

-G-

"... After he torched half the hospital, we managed to chase the creep off through downtown." Dick told the family members before him. "When Steph and I finally cornered him in the apartment that looked like his workshop, the guy activated his failsafe bombs. Instant immolation, we barely got out before he set the entire room on fire."

"And in the ruins of that, there wasn't enough of a body left for decent DNA analysis to identify him." Bruce grumbled. Dick nodded in frustrated agreement. Sometimes, even being counted among the world's greatest detectives did little to help when a mystery came along without enough pieces to use in the solving.

"Anything else we could do, or has the case officially wrapped itself?" Stephanie asked, leaning forward on her seat with her elbows resting on her knees. "Because now I really want to go upstairs and see my new niece and nephew.

Bruce, Dick and Babs on the computer screen all paused. "...What?" The younger man finally managed to ask.

Steph couldn't help the small smirk. "Figures you guys put work before new babies. If any of you had been paying attention earlier when the hospital emptied out, you'd have realized that both Tim and Tam had a newborn in their arms."

"But that's... _What?"_

"Dickie, I don't get it yet either, which is why I want to go upstairs and listen to the full story."

The two young adults took off, while Bruce rubbed a hand over his face and turned back to the screen. "Oracle, can you-"

"I'll gather what info I can, boss-bat, now get out of that cave and go meet your newest grandkids." Barbara grinned at him, then cut the connection without another word. Bruce couldn't decide between sighing and growling, so he settled for standing up and heading for the stairs carved through the cave wall.

In the kitchen of the Mansion, while Alfred attempted to prepare dinner, nearly everyone else in the family was crowded around one end of the table and the married couple seated there.

Stephanie had been correct - there were two infants.

Tamara was still grinning proudly while Tim wore an expression that spoke of inner turmoil, which Bruce picked up on immediately. Damian was the first to notice him in the doorway, and promptly stepped aside to make room for his father to approach. The others gradually fell silent as Bruce moved to take the vacated spot and raise an eyebrow at his adoptive son.

"She didn't have a name." Tim said off-handedly, still contemplating whatever was on his mind.

"Meaning?" Bruce pushed for him to elaborate, when Tamara jumped in.

"Timmy was one of the last people out, having slowed down to help others not doing well. There was a woman back in our hallway who was killed because of the explosions - she'd just had this little tyke about the same time I was in the middle of pushing out Jack." The young men of the room other than Tim promptly slapped hands over their ears, while the ladies just smirked. "Anyway, after he came out and things settled down, we tried to ask the hospital staff who was there to take the child, but it turns out her mother hadn't arrived in the best of states."

"Incoherent and with a gunshot wound." Tim continued. "They never got a name out of her, or one for the baby either, and when the second floor collapsed the woman's body was lost in the rubble. I'm going to try and do some investigating to see where she came from, and who this girl's legal guardians are now."

-G-

Two weeks. And Tim came up with zilch.

Security cameras had been useless, the only ones which might have seen something that day having been destroyed by the later attack. Hospital staff, upon discreet questioning, had been next to useless. And when the body of their mystery woman was finally dug out of the rubble, her facial features had been reduced to nothing helpful for a database search.

Her DNA, though, when put through the criminal database, brought up a close-match with one George Huffman, doing another twenty years in Blackgate. Searching his background, Tim found records of a younger sister, the only family left to Mr. Huffman - though after pulling up a recent picture, the detective was able to positively ID her as the mystery woman from the hospital.

Anne Huffman, age twenty three, and living with her boyfriend Sammy Coleston...

... At the same address where the unidentified bomber had killed himself after being chased away from the destruction of the hospital. Or, more specifically, of the _maternity ward._

Tamara found Tim bent over in his chair at the computer desk an hour later, still trying to wrap his head around the facts of the story. After he explained it all, she got a dangerously determined look on her face, asking if there was any family left all at who would be in a position to take care of the baby girl, still living with them even after those weeks.

Tim closed his eyes as he shook his head. And then snapped them open again when Tam declared that they would be keeping little Anne.

As years went by, neither of the tiny Drakes (or any strangers they met for that matter) had any reason to suspect that they were, in fact, not blood-related. Each had a parent of different ancestry, and their skin and hair tones ended up being remarkably similar - plenty of people often commented on features that they shared. They even shared a mindset, often able to unintentionally talk in sync or finish each others' sentences.

Several of their family members were a bit disturbed by it, actually.

When the pair turned eight, Tamara and Tim sat them down to explain their true origins, which the kids took remarkable well. There were a few days afterward where they acted uneasily and spent perhaps the most time apart than they ever had in their lives.

Then, early in the morning of a day the following week, Jason had been coming into what he thought was the empty kitchen to get some breakfast - and nearly had a heart attack when he opened the pantry and found the pair crouched beside each other on the shelf at his eye-level, several empty cereal boxes around them.

At some point during the sugar-high after that, Jack and Anne yelled out in unison: "We are the twins who are not twins!"

The phrase stuck. And they never did get to live down how they got it - Jason made good sure of that...


	6. Chapter 5: List of People

Okay. The time has come for a List of People, both for my sanity and yours (though why anybody who doesn't have at least a few screws loose would want to read this story, I don't know).

In the Year of 2029:

Holly Wayne, Daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, Age 15 and Robin

Mari'ander Grayson, Daughter of Dick Grayson and Kori'ander, Age 16 and Nightstar

Jasmine Zernicke-Todd, Adopted Daughter of Jason Todd, Age 12

Jeremy Zernicke-Todd, Adopted Son of Jason Todd, Age 11

Jack Drake, Son of Tim Drake and Tamara Fox, Age 10

Anne Drake, Adopted Daughter of Tim Drake and Tamara Fox, Age 10

Marigold Cain, Adopted Daughter of Cassandra Cain, Age 9

Walter Kiers-Brown, Adopted Son of Stephanie Brown, Age 7

Sara Wilkes, Daughter of Colin Wilkes, Age 9

Danny Wilkes, Son of Colin Wilkes, Age 5

Richard B. Wayne, Son of Damian Wayne and Irey West, Age 8

Alfred Wallace Wayne, Son of Damian Wayne and Irey West, Age 3

Granted, some of these are subject to change in the very near future...

As a point of personal pride (or perhaps shame, I'm not sure which), all of these kids are made up by me, except for Mari', of course. She's an official DC character, even if those copyright owners haven't given her the screen-time she deserves.

And as a point of explanation, ALL of these characters WILL be getting at least one chapter dedicated to their origins. It's just, within the timeline, I'm running out of room for doing all of it linearly, so we'll be getting plenty of flashbacks and second-hand story-telling along the way. A real plot, you ask? I'm sorry to break it to you, but the only plot behind these updates is my scheming to provide a background against which to lay my current and to-be-written Little Robin Red stories... Because that's where the real action will be happening, at some point. And if you haven't been reading the Little Bird Lost in Time, what are you still doing here?

-Triscribe


End file.
